As this edition our newsletter goes out, I can’t believe we’ve been on campus and training for over six weeks! Your swimming & diving Vikings are 64 athletes and 4 coaches strong. And so many others supporting this group including athletic department personnel, alumni, family and friends. The common thread being a love of Cleveland State University swimming & diving!

There are so many amazing deeds going on during this young season. The team has been training at a very high level, hosted 3 recruiting weekends, participated in a Saturday of community service and swam in two competitions! The best part- - - - - - they have such a strong determination to get better in everything they do.

We ask for your continued support of this historic program that’s achieved so much through the efforts of so many people. Continue to follow the Vikings on the web, thru our newsletter, on social media and best of all IN PERSON.

I’m extremely pleased to announce our “Extra Mile” campaign to update decades-old locker rooms has passed the half-way mark in fundraising thanks to generous leadership gifts from engaged swimming & diving alumni. We now need to finish strong as we begin reaching out to our parents, friends and alumni for their support to “go the extra mile” and purchase one of the remaining 50 lockers. Please read more below to see the impact your donation of $1,650 will have on this year’s team, future teams and the university.

See you on the pool deck!

Paul

The season has started!

Earlier in the month both programs competed in the Akron Zips Classic. It was great to be racing some of the top teams in Ohio, including Akron, Miami, Cincinnati, Miami and Denison. As we come off of this meet, we're continuing to be intentional in our training. We have meets the next two weekends, so our athletes are excited to compete!

Thanks to weekend performances by Dominik Niedzialek and Molly McNamara, Cleveland State swept Horizon League Swimmers of the Week honors. Niedzialek, a sophomore, had never been named Horizon League Swimmer of the Week. McNamara, a senior, celebrates her ninth time earning this honor. Congrats to Dominik and Molly!

Update: Extra Mile Campaign

I’m excited to share that we’re halfway through the campaign to update the original lockers installed when Busbey Natatorium opened in 1973! A team of current student-athletes, alumni and staff outlined the needs, put together plans and gathered cost estimates. It has been an amazing real-world experience for the team members to learn and build upon the legacy of CSU’s swimming & diving program.

Overall costs for updated locker rooms, new lockers, showers, toilets and painting will be nearly $200,000. Thanks to generous alumni and friends we have already raised over half of the funds needed! The first phase - demolition and locker updates- is now fully funded and projected to begin by December 14.

The second phase of the project will see updated bathrooms, shower areas and branding. To complete the whole project, we need your help!! By purchasing one of only 50 remaining lockers for $1,650, YOU (or your group – family, class, relay team, etc.) will help us go the “extra mile” to complete the project funding and commemorate YOU with a unique plaque in your locker.

One of the best aspects of all the Heritage Project updates to the Busbey Natatorium has been about history and connection. I view the lockers as a great connection point, as each graduating Viking student-athlete will place their name permanently in your locker under your donor plaque. Over time the connections will expand, and you and future graduates will be forever connected “Team is Forever!”

The campaign is scheduled to end on November 18th, so please act fast! We can’t continue the project without full funding. Our athletes are ready to move to temporary locker space to make way for the many revisions.

RECENT NEWS: The National Invitational Championship has selected CSU to host the 2019 meet in March, with 60 teams and 500 athletes already registered. This invite is one step below NCAA’s and is an incredible opportunity to show off CSU swimming and diving and our new, top notch facilities.

The Horizon League released preseason polls earlier this month. Our men received four first place votes and are the favorites for the 2018-2019 Horizon League Championship. Our women sit in the second place spot. This is the first year the men have been selected as preseason champions and it marks the highest preseason finish for the women! Click here to see the polls from the Horizon League.

Introducing the 2018-2019 Leadership Council

In place of selecting one or two captains to represent the entire team, fourteen athletes have been elected to the first Leadership Council. The council represntatives were voted upon by the team and there are members from each graduating class. The group was put in place to serve a number of functions vital to the success of the team. In addition to being a liaison between the coaching staff and the athletes, the leadership has been divided into subcommittees. Senior Chad Wright says, "The cool thing about the Leadership Council is that we get to help in its direction because it is so new." So far, the council has been working on the team's training trip, planning recruiting visit activities, and coordinating aspects of meet day expectations for the team. "We now want to accomplish some other things, such as setting up more academic support within the team," Wright said.

The day after we hosted the Cleveland State Relay Challenge, we participated in our annual "Day of Service." Coaching staff and athletes partnered with the Cleveland Food Bank and two Habitat for Humanity ReStores. Our volunteers at the Food Bank organized an astonishing 36,960 lbs of food! At the ReStores, our volunteers helped to organize items, set up furniture and work on the loading dock. Here are some picutres from our September 30th Day of Service...

Autism Speaks Walk

Shaw Barney, one of our sophomore swimmers, organized a group of teammates to patricipate in the Autism Speaks walk in downtown Cleveland. Upon graduating from CSU, Shaw woul like to be a special education teacher and help students living with autism. The walk was the morning after our Day of Service, but that didn't stop these team members from eagerly waking up early to support a great cause!

Did our athletes really have a paint war?!

YES, they did!

After a grueling Saturday morning practice on September 15, the team enjoyed breakfast before partcipating in our team bonding event. The afternoon proved to be a great time for breaking down barriers and investing in realtionships. We started with team-wide icebreakers, and then the athletes were split into 8 predetermined groups. Each group had (at minimum) one senior, one new CSU athlete, one member of the Leadership Council and one diver. The teams then competed against each other and went head-to-head in trivia. To cap off the afternoon, the team and coaches branched out of their comfort zones and threw 1,080 paint balls. We'd call it a successful afternoon and are closer because of it!

Shout-Out to our

September & October Birthdays!

September:

Alana Cartwright (10th)

Lexie Kostelnik (14th)

Maggie Hogsed (15th)

Mark Krusinski (18th)

Ashleigh Bennett (19th)

Libby Smith (25th)

Dominik Niedzialek (28th)

Irena Weclawiak (30th)

October:

Coach Paul Graham (12th)

Trevor Mahoney (29th)

Be sure to follow our Instagram to see our birthday posts! IG: @vikingswimdive

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